Derfuss says he was standing about five feet from the shooter
when he heard a gunshot behind him.

Three hours later, while going through his backpack, he noticed
something terrifying.

The library books he had just checked out had bullet holes in
them. It turns out the books may have saved his life — he walked
away unharmed, even though the gun had been aimed at his back.

"He was about 5 feet from me, but he hit my books," Derfuss wrote
in a public Facebook post. "Books one minute earlier I had
checked out of the library, books that should not have stopped
the bullet. But they did."

In a video interview with Tallahassee Democrat, Derfuss recalled
what happened.

"I had just checked out a couple of books for a research project
I was doing. I was walking down the steps when I heard a loud
bang behind me. This bang was definitely a gun shot. I didn’t
really want to accept that a gunshot was going off behind me but
I knew what it was. I turned around very slowly and saw the
gunman take two shots at another person. And that’s when I ran
for my life.

"When I got back I pulled out two of the books for my research
project and noticed that both of the covers of the books were
really messed up. It looked like something had punctured through
the books. And so I emptied out my backpack. My roommate
came in and found the bullet lodged in the bottom of my
backpack.

"It was difficult to wrap my mind around that I had been the
first person he shot. I thought all three shots had been targeted
at the other person.

"It was humbling to know that my life was in God’s hands and that
he graciously spared me. All of the victims are alive and thank
god for that."

Here's the full interview with Derfuss:

Here's the public Facebook post, with incredible images that
should encourage everyone to read more.